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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify, through empirical analysis, the factors affecting, and expectations of, postgraduate students in their choice of postgraduate programme in Greece. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 523 postgraduate students from various university departments in the Athens area completed the questionnaire (response rate: 70.2 per cent), which contained 14 questions designed to identify the reasons why postgraduate students had chosen their particular postgraduate programme and what their expectations were as to the outcome of their studies, on a self-reporting basis. Findings Two fields of postgraduate programmes were popular: business administration and educational studies. Quality and preference appears to influence business administration students, their choice was intrinsically motivated and self-determined, without any external pressures. By contrast, students’ choice in educational studies was influenced by the particular characteristics of the programme, their choice was influenced by institutional motivation whereas their options and autonomy support seemed to be less. Research limitations/implications This study has some limitations, so data gathered from other Greek regions may be needed for a more thorough investigation and analysis as well as for the confirmation of the results. Originality/value There is only a very limited amount of empirical research concerning the identification of the factors affecting, and the expectations of, postgraduate students in their choice of postgraduate programme while the existing literature on the subject does not discuss the matter in substantial detail. Indeed, the present study moves the analysis forward as it considers both economic and psychological perspective in the choice of postgraduate programmes.

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